A Second Ending
by sdbsrtr
Summary: What would have happend had Charoltte not married Mr. Collins


Charlotte was standing alone when one of the soldiers from the militia, which was stationed in Meryton, came and introduced himself as Henry. He asked her to dance and she accepted the offer. He had short brown hair and green eyes, and stood about a foot taller than Charlotte. She saw her friend Elizabeth dancing with Mr. Collins, looking thoroughly embarrassed.

Henry moved closer to her. He smiled at her, he had a nice smile. Most men were not this kind to Charlotte; they preferred women with more wealth than she had. That was why many people, including Charlotte herself, believed that she would end up a spinster.

They talked some more. His parents had been fairly wealthy but had died recently. So he was alone. He had no siblings.

Once again Henry moved closer, much closer than the dance called for. He was so close in fact that she felt heat between their hands. This normally would have made her nervous but she felt perfectly comfortable. His eyes gave her their undivided focus. This too was unusual behavior, most men tended to look around the room at the other women. Henry's hand lightly brushed hers, and she felt herself blush.

At that moment Mr. Collins was aggravating Mr. Darcy. She had never particularly cared for Mr. Darcy, but at that moment she couldn't help but feel pity for him. Mr. Collins rudeness was obvious to the whole of the assembly, but Mr. Darcy handled it well. She and Henry slowed as the dance came to an end.

"Would you do me the honor of another dance?" Henry mumbled next to her ear.

"Yes," Charlotte said shocked but pleased. This was a new occurrence. Never before had she been asked for a second dance. That praise had always been reserved for people such as Jane and Eliza. Charlotte had never before allowed herself to hope, but perhaps she would not die a spinster. Perhaps she would not be a burden to her parents and later her brothers. Perhaps she would be happy.

She looked over and saw Eliza with Mr. Darcy. She thought it odd but didn't question it long. She quickly she turned her attention back to Henry.

He leaned in towards her and whispered, "Do you often walk to Meryton?"

"My friends and I often walk to Meryton," she answered in surprise. Suddenly she wished she went alone, but then she corrected herself, that wasn't proper for her to think.

"I'm very glad to hear that." She watched him smile at this news and welcomed the attention.

Her staring was broken when she realized that this dance called for her to switch partners. She had to switch to Mr. Collins. It was a completely different experience than dancing with Henry. He was stiff and awkward. His manners were uninviting and his conversation was unpleasant. She was pleasant all the same, but relieved when the partners switched back. Henry smiled and moved closer.

Several weeks later her family wanted to have a dinner for the neighborhood. The guests would include the Bennett's as well as the Netherfield party. Also, at Charlotte's suggestion, the militia was invited as well. To her displeasure she found out that she would be in charge of the preparations. While she greatly enjoyed social events, she did not like to plan them. She would worry about the minutest details and as Henry would be in attendance, the worry would be greatly increased. Her only comfort in this was that Eliza would be coming later to help.

To Charlotte love was not an integral part or marriage. To her it was a luxury only a few women could afford to find and she certainly wasn't one of them. The rest had to respect their husbands and that respect would hopefully, eventually turn to admiration and that hopefully would finally turn to love. Besides, if it didn't, theimportant thing was that the woman was provided for and wouldn't be a burden on her family any longer. But, Charlotte's opinion on this had started to change with Henry.

Just then there was a knock on the door. It was Eliza who had arrived interrupting her thoughts. Charlotte gave her a list of chores and instantly they began to work. The two worked in silence,only it was not a happy one. Rather, it was the type of silence where one person knows that the other want to say something and the other person knows that their friend doesn't want it said. So, there they both sat, feeling awkward.

Finally Charlotte broke the tension in the hope that Eliza would ask whatever it was she was hiding. "How did Mr. Darcy change your mind? I thought you swore never to dance with him?"

Eliza grinned an embarrassed sort of grin and answered her friend in her usual manner. "It was quite an accident, but rest assured my dear Charlotte, Miss Bingley has nothing to fear from me. If anything that dance only increased my dislike of him."

"What could he have done?"

"It was bad enough to insult me when my back was turned, but the entirety of the dance he would have spent in cold silence had I not forced him to speak. If he didn't consider me a worthy partner then there was no reason for him to ask for the dance. Enough of me though." She grinned mischievously, "Who was that charming militia man who you were with for two whole dances and who couldn't take his eyes off you?" Eliza smiled again.

Charlotte's eyes rolled. She was rather surprised that Eliza could be so flippant about the honor Mr. Darcy had given her. "His name is Henry. And you, Eliza, need to watch your tongue about Mr. Darcy. There could be a dozen different reasons for his actions," she finished sternly.

"Dear Charlotte, his reason is quite obvious to me and the town in general; surely it's not lost on you."

"I'm afraid it is," said Charlotte curtly.

"Pride" said Eliza simply. To which all Charlotte could do was roll her eyes and return to her work. She saw Eliza grinning and had a bad feeling.  
>"Why are you so pleased with yourself now?"<p>

"I'm not pleased with myself," she said acting injured, "why, it is you dear Charlotte that has given me this greatest pleasure."

Charlotte now sensing danger groaned and asked, "Why is that dear Eliza?"

Eliza looked up innocently, "I get to choose the seating arrangement. See is on Jane's right. Mr. Darcy is on the other side of him near Miss Bingley. I think that will certainly thrill him. At the opposite end of the table is your Henry with you on his right. I am on your other side with Mr. Wickham next to me." She smiled at the look on Charlotte's face.

"Change the arrangement right now Eliza."

"No, there is not a more beneficial arrangement for everyone than this. I'm quite pleased" At her words Charlotte made a mental note to put her right next to Mr. Darcy, and as soon as Eliza left she did.

When Charlotte came downstairs, everyone was already in their usual social circles. Kitty and Lydia were finding the best gossip. Mary was playing a song on the piano, which had a completely inappropriate tone for the occasion, of course. Eliza was talking to Charlotte's father. The party from Netherfield look splendid huddled in one corner of the room, except of course for Bingley who had found Jane and was now busily captivating her time. The militia were just now arriving. After a few glances around the room they chose the women whom they would focus on tonight. Henry had stopped to talk her father and Eliza now, Charlotte groaned. She also saw Mr. Collins alone in a corner of the room reading. She felt bad but did not approach him.

She stared to make her way toward Henry and her father when Kitty and Lydia danced up to her. Lydia began at once, "Charlotte we have just heard the most exciting news. See the militia man over there," she pointed to Henry, "he is to be married soon."

"To a woman," interrupted Kitty.

"Hush Kitty I was telling her," said Lydia. "He is to be married to a woman who has a 10,000 a year. Isn't it incredible?"

"Yes," said charlotte miserably, "very incredible."

The rest of the evening was wasted on Charlotte. As she was sitting near Henry she answered politely, but did not make conversation. It made her feel slightly better to hear that Eliza had spoken very highly of her. The only words she said though were yes sir, no sir, and thank you sir. She also smiled at the look on Eliza's face when she found that she was seated between Mr. Darcy and Mr. Collins. Mr. Darcy seemed to be attempting to fix his mistake at the dance. He was doing his best to keep Eliza's attention through conversation. Charlotte was very happy to see that Eliza couldn't help but smile through most of it and even laughed once at a joke he made. Despite her pain Charlotte couldn't help but be happy in the belief that her dear friend would be taken care of. Mr. Collins rarely spoke except to give several very awkward and rehearsed compliments. He also complimented Lady Catharine and spoke of the humble abode that she had condescended to give him. Darcy's face at these times made it very hard for Charlotte to not laugh.

Several days later she made arrangements with Eliza to go with her and her sisters to Meryton. She had hoped the diversion would distract her from last few miserable days. She felt so ridiculous that two dances, even if they were a compliment, had made her feel secure of him. She continued to remember the way his eyes made her feel when they were turned towards her and how being near him felt. The memory of his smile almost made her cry.

Mr. Collins, who had suffered a similar disappointment, had been one of her few companions for the past few days. Though he did not know the cause of her pain, he was sympathetic towards her. In his own way he tried to be kind. He knew she loved to hear people read, and though the sermons he chose were dry and boring she appreciated the effort just the same.

Eliza smiled at her when they met. There was sympathy in the smile and Charlotte knew that her friend must by now, know the whole story. Eliza didn't try to make conversation though; she must have sensed that Charlotte didn't want to talk about it. Eliza had a talent for reading people, except of course sometimes their reactions towards her. The rest of the world was an open book to her friend, and one which she read thoroughly, paying both attention to plot and characters. The talent grew out of Eliza's enjoyment of laughing at anything ridiculous. Charlotte's ability only extended to making sure she was making the correct impression in social circles.

When they entered into town, the last person she wished to see approached them. Eliza glared at Henry and Charlotte was now certain that Eliza's sisters had told her everything.

"May I have a private word?" Henry looked at her imploringly.

"I don't think that would be appropriate, especially under the current circumstances," Charlotte answered curtly.

"Please, it is quite important." He looked at her differently than he normally would and it made her uncomfortable. She looked to Eliza who shook her head. But she sighed and consented to his request.

He led her farther away than she had imagined he would have taken her if all he wanted was a quick word. He turned her down a long ally which turned abruptly and dead ended, giving her no escape from behind and blocking her from the view of any one the street.

"We shouldn't be here." She said sternly.

"Dearest Charlotte where is your sense of adventure?" He said teasingly and for the first time charlotte felt repulsed by him.

"Where is your sense of propriety?" suddenly a question came to mind and she asked despite its' rudeness. "When did your engagement take place?"

His face turned very dark at her words, "How did you hear of that?"

"When did your engagement take place?"

All traces of the smile she loved and the kindness she had always seen in him were wiped away. "If you must know about a month before we met." He took a sadistic satisfaction from the hurt on her face. Before she knew it he had grabbed for her. She tried to pull away.

Just then the last person she had expected and possibly the least helpful emerged from around the corner. It was Mr. Collins. "I felt it my duty to inform both of you that it is quite inappropriate for a young couple such as yourselves to be together in such a manner. In fact in some places it would…," but he stopped just then as he looked up and fully saw the scene before him.

Henry took off just then. Mr. Collins seemed to not know the right course of action. After a few moments of hesitation he decided to make sure Charlotte was fine and to inform her that the incident was not at all her fault. That woman were in general naive about the world and she was not accountable for such actions. She was innocent of any charge that might be laid against her by Henry. She smiled at him.

Just then the dream ended and Charlotte woke up feeling ill. The noise that had awoken her was Mr. Collins talking to someone in the garden. It seemed to be a new parishioner.

"It's such a shame that you can't meet my dearest Charlotte," he was saying in a rather pompous manner but under that there seemed to be a genuioness to it, "she is rather ill. In fact I was just about to go in to see if she wanted read to. She always seems to enjoy it."

Her dream perhaps had been somewhat accurate about her husband's character. Charlotte smiled it was the first genuine show of kindness he had given her and she reflected to herself that quite soon her respect for his profession and status maybe, just maybe, would turn to somewhat of an admiration of her husband, and perhaps more.


End file.
